Thud! Goldsboro upends No. 1-ranked Kinston

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on January 24, 2015 11:26 PM

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Despite struggling from the field for much of the game, Rasheen Artis had no intentions to stop shooting.

And with the game on the line and his team clinging to a two-point lead with three seconds left, Artis stood at the free throw line hoping to seal a victory.

The senior guard calmly knocked down both free throws like he was shooting all alone in an empty gym and sealed a 79-77 victory over three-time defending state 2-A champion and Eastern Carolina foe Kinston on Saturday evening.

A back-and-forth game, the fans who packed shoulder-to-shoulder into cozy Norvell T. Lee Gymnasium were treated to a dandy with storylines aplenty. The gym reached capacity status and the doors were locked before the JV boys' game concluded.

"Any time you have people from other schools coming out to support you it's great," Goldsboro coach Russell Stephens said. "It was a big game for us, but for the community as well. It's a shame that some of the kids' parents and friends didn't get into the game, though.

"But it was great to have so many people here. It gets called the Kinston-Goldsboro rivalry, but last year it tilted their way and to have a rivalry you actually have to win the games, so it was good for us to get this win."

With Artis having a quiet night, Joe Baker picked up the slack and had a career-high 30 points and grabbed eight rebounds. On the first possession, Baker knocked down a 3 and never looked back.

"After I hit the first couple, that rim got huge," Baker said. "I was just going to keep shooting."

His biggest play, however, was actually a missed dunk. He stole a pass in the first quarter and after regaining his footing, went up to try and dunk on Kinston's Darnell Dunn but was fouled. Despite the miss, fans and his teammates appreciated the effort, roaring in approval.

"I like to get the fans on their feet, so that was a good moment," Baker said. "Any time I can make a play and get the energy going, I'm doing my job."

Kinston star Brandon Ingram led all scorers with 31 points, and on a night where the rest of the Vikings struggled -- except for Dunn -- the 6-foot-8 wingman carried the load for much of the contest. With the game waning in the final minutes, Goldsboro elected to double-team Ingram, leaving someone open and daring that player to beat them.

Ingram consistently found the open man, but often to no avail.

"When you're playing against someone like that, you have to make somebody else beat you," Stephens said. "Especially when he's so long like that."

The packed house was on its feet all game, and most of the time it was Goldsboro's Myron Carmon who razzled and dazzled fans with his quick crossovers and spin moves, and deep threes. At one point, Carmon launched a 3 when his feet were closer to midcourt than the three-point line. It bounced off the front of the rim, hit the backboard and dropped in.

Carmon finished with 13 points.

"No, I don't see where I'm shooting from," Carmon said. "It's just me and the rim out there."

Stephens had no issue with his guard taking shots from so deep.

"In a big game like this we knew we were going to have to take some chances and hit outside shots if we were going to win. So you don't really get upset with those," he said.

A much shorter team, Goldsboro still kept to its identity of driving to the basket with its guards, and actually often went right at the Kinston big men. They also were able to keep up with Kinston on the boards as Ronnie Tookes and Jalin Thomas combined to grab 27 rebounds.

The win came in an up-and-down week for the Cougars where they lost to conference bottom-dweller Ayden-Grifton, then rebounded to beat North Lenoir, and then handed Kinston its first conference loss since 2012, according to MaxPreps.

It might not have been the best the Cougars have played this year, but it was certainly the biggest win of the season.

"I'm sure this wasn't their biggest game of the year with the schedule they have," Stephens said. "And we're 15-2 so we've been playing some pretty good basketball this year, but against a team like that I would say this was our biggest win."

Kinston 53, Goldsboro 41

* As good as Tyona Moses is, Goldsboro's girls learned just how important point guard Destini Covington is to them Saturday evening.

When Covington went down with an ankle injury with 4:23 remaining in the first half, the Cougars' offense fell apart. They scored just four points for the remainder of the half and never got going even when Covington tried to play through the injury in a 53-41 loss to Kinston that snapped the Cougars' four-game win streak.

After heading into the locker room tied at half, Kinston dominated a third quarter riddled by turnovers for the Cougars, and transition baskets for Jada Faison and the Vikings. Faison scored 15 points of her team-high 19 in the second half to lead the Vikings.

Moses tried valiantly to carry the load, scoring 34 points for the second straight night, but Goldsboro's offense was stagnant for much of the second half. The supporting cast struggled to move without the ball, and when they had opportunities, they weren't able to finish.

Amari Cooper added four points for GHS.